Speech #990244322

Mr. President. the bill I am introducing today is designed to reform our existing system of admitting immigrants. to make it more flexible and generous. and to open it up to a larger number of "independent" immigrants who do not have family ties in the United States. This result can be achieved without curtailing the traditional priority we give for family reunification. and without departing from the principles of equity and fairness established In the 1965 reforms. This bill reflects the recommendations of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. on which I served. and. more importantly. it reflects the bipartisan proposals I have developed with Senator SIMPSON on the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. Unfortunately. in recent years. these needed reforms in our legal immigration system have taken a back seat to proposals to halt illegal migration. But there is no Justification now for further delay. There is a growing concern that our immigration laws are out of balance. In redressing years of discriminatory immigration policy. the 1965 law inadvertently created a pattern of reverse discrimination. The 1965 act was a fundamental reforma major step toward a fair and nondiscriminatory immigration policybut it was not frozen in stone. For example. a further assessment of the reforms was to be guaranteed by the creation of the Western Hemisphere Commission. But the Commission met. filed a report. and nothing happened. The sad fact is that. as the history of immigration legislation makes clear. Congress deals with the issue only rarely. and then only after extraordinary pressure and intense debate. Following the major work of the select commission in 1981. and as a result of the leadership of Senator SIMPSON and Congressman RODINO since then. we are now in a position to act again. There is a growing consensus on what needs to be done to reform our system of admitting legal migrants. The goal of the bill I am introducing today has broad support. It was recommended by the select commission. and has already passed the Senate twice. Its essential feature is to separate the current legal immigration system into two tracksfirst. a reordering of the family reunification preferences. and second. the creation of a new "independent" category for nonfamily reunification immigrants who have skills and talents needed in our country. My bill goes further. however. by expanding this new independent category with 30.000 additional openings each year. while still maintaining the current laws equal treatment of all countries under an annual immigration ceiling of 300.000. The bill also safeguards American jobs and wages. but gives the Secretary of Labor greater flexibility in administering the labor certification process. so that it will be easier for new immigrants to find jobs and enter the United States without disadvantaging American workers. This bill will open our door once again to the "old seed" sources of immigrationthe traditional ethnic flows from Ireland. Italy. and Western Europewhile protecting the "new seed" immigrants who have rightly benefited from the reforms achieved in the 1965 act. It also opens the door to groups who have not had previous migration flows to the United States. Finally. unlike other proposals that have been urged upon us. this bill does not abandon the principle of equal treatment of all nations and nationalities. It does not create new quotas for some at the expense of others. But it does create new opportunities for legal migration to the United Stateswhich is what our immigration policy should do. and what this reform is intended to achieve. Mr. President. I have spoken to our distinguished chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee. Senator SiMPSON. and I look forward to working closely with him on this and other Immigration reforms in the days ahead. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill. as well as excerpts from the select commissions recommendations. be printed In the RECORD.